Billy Hamilton still is wearing a splint to immobilize the fractured thumb on his left hand, but the Cincinnati Reds center fielder doesn’t feel like he needs it much longer. Hamilton suffered the fracture on Sept. 6, but no longer is experiencing much pain.

“I can go up and down and in,” Hamilton said. “The outside, going out a little bit, that’s what bothers me. It’s not much at all. It’s to a point where I’m gripping and moving around.”

Hamilton is scheduled to have the thumb checked again Sunday, at which point his prescribed 10-day period of immobilization will have expired. But that doesn’t mean he’ll jump back into the action from the 10-day disabled list as well.

The Reds will want to ensure that Hamilton can swing a bat, slide headfirst into a base and catch a ball before they consider returning him to the field. With little to play for in September, there’s no reason to speed through that process.

But Hamilton is antsy. The last two seasons, season-ending injuries have limited him to 114 and 119 games, respectively. Hamilton is already at 132 games played this year, but doesn’t want to end another year on the disabled list.

He also wants to feed his competitive fire, which is hard to do from the bench.

“I want to be out there with them going to war,” Hamilton said. “No matter if we’re winning, no matter if we’re losing, I want to play with them. To be on the side watching, I feel like I’m letting them down.”

With 15 games left in the season, it’s not unreasonable to think Hamilton could beat the clock. Reds manager Bryan Price cautioned that he’s heard no firm medical opinion on the subject, but did say he thinks Hamilton will take the field again in 2017.

“I’m optimistic that in some way, shape or form he’ll be able to get back on the field,” Price said.

Left-hander Wandy Peralta, out with a hip injury, was scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday, which could be his final hurdle before returning to action. Peralta has been out for two weeks, but was never placed on the disabled list.

Second baseman Scooter Gennett took batting practice for the first time since injuring his left hand Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Price said Gennett could return to the lineup “in the next day or two.”

Right-hander Drew Storen, who has been out all month with a strained right elbow, was supposed to meet with team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek on Friday to compare scans of his elbow from his pre-signing physical to more recent images. Storen said that meeting had not yet occurred when reporters approached him before Friday’s game.